NPR.

This is the indicator from Planet Money.

I'm Adrienne Ma.

For decades, there's been this popular idea about the internet, and social media in particular,

that they're sort of like a digital

town square, a place where people can gather, share ideas, dialogue, and debate. And in this

view of the internet, Facebook, YouTube, and X aren't just machines for spreading memes and

misinformation. They're platforms for exercising that most hallowed of American rights, the right to free

speech. And it's an alluring idea because it gives a sort of noble justification for all the messiness

that we see online. But if you were to ask Olivier Sylvain, this view of the internet

as the sacred zone for free speech is really a myth,

and one that's doing us more harm than good.

These are not passive, neutral conduits, right?

These are entities that are making decisions about content delivery,

but they can never be held accountable for it.

Olivier is a professor at Fordham Law School who studies communications and information law.

He recently published a book called Reclaiming the Internet,

how big tech took control and how we can take it back.

Today on the show, he lays out his argument for why he thinks a libertarian myth of the Internet

has given Big Tech too much power and the changes he'd like to see to give some of that

power back to the people.

As Olivier Solvane tells it, the 1990s were a really idealistic time for the early internet.

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